


Trapped

by to_love_a_lightwood



Series: Save Our Souls [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Kidnapping, Physical Abuse, Rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 10:05:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11872062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/to_love_a_lightwood/pseuds/to_love_a_lightwood
Summary: At age seventeen, Maryse Lightwood is kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend Robert. Alec and Izzy are born in the basement and have never been outside before. Maryse tries her best to give her kids a normal life, but as they get older she realizes her hopeless dream may never come true.Inspired by the movie Room.





	Trapped

**Author's Note:**

> Hello readers! I've never actually seen the movie Room but I heard about it and wrote this fic based off of it. PLEASE heed the tags, this is an extremely dark fic!

Maryse could feel her heart pounding as she listened to see if he was really, finally gone. She could hardly believe it. Robert had left a moment ago to head to work, and as she heard his police cruiser pull out of the driveway she realized he had forgotten to lock her up. The blood was rushing in her ears as she heard no sign indicating Robert was still here. For the first time in the eight years Robert had held her captive here, she finally had a good chance at escaping. She couldn't be afraid anymore. She needed to be brave. 

Maryse stood up quickly, alarming her six year old son shackled in the corner. "Mama?" He whispered in the dark. 

"It's okay, Alec," she said back, fighting to keep the tremor from her voice. "Stay here with Izzy. I want you two to hide and don't come out until I say so. Okay?"

Alec hesitated, but whispered back, "Okay." Maryse's heart swelled as she realized they could get hurt if she gets caught trying to escape again, but she shook those thoughts from her mind. She would not fail them. Not again. 

She felt her way along the wall to the locked door keeping them in the basement and kicked it, hard. She wasn't as strong as she used to be, but with the adrenaline on her side the door collapsed with three powerful blows. Light flooded in from the door at the top of the staircase, but Maryse didn't let her momentary blindness keep her from scaling them as quickly as possible. 

She rushed to the front door, bursting though it and screaming for help. She saw a man standing startled on the sidewalk in front of the house and ran to him without thinking. "Please," she gasped urgently. "Help. My name is Maryse Lightwood, I've been missing for eight years."

The man's eyes widened as he pulled out his cell phone. "Christ," he muttered, dialing 9-1-1. "I know you, I was the detective assigned to your case. I'm Luke Garroway."

"The man who took me, Robert-he's a detective too. He just left for work."

Luke swore and paled a little. "I know him. I'll make sure they catch him when he gets there."

Maryse breathed a sigh of relief as he called for backup. She couldn't believe after all this time she was free. She smiled as she thought of her kids finally being able to go outside and feel the grass, the cool breeze, the sunlight warming their faces. God, had she missed the sun.

A few people in the surrounding houses had come outside to stand on their lawns to try to figure out what was going on. They were probably wondering who the woman in the baggy t-shirt and sweatpants was and why she looked like she'd just crawled out of a sewer. 

Luke hung up his phone and turned back to Maryse. "Was there anyone else in the house with you?"

Maryse nodded. "I have two children. I told them to hide until I came back for them."

Luke nodded. "Police will be here soon, they'll take you in to get them. We'll let the paramedics take you three from there."

Maryse nodded and waited anxiously for the police to arrive. She itched to hold her kids, to tell them they were safe now and have it be true. She needed them to know she wouldn't let anyone touch them again. 

When the police showed up, Maryse nearly charged them in her hurry. "My kids are downstairs," she said, turning to lead the way. "I'll show you."

Luke nodded at their questioning gazes, leaving two officers to jog behind Maryse as she all but ran back into the house. She rushed downstairs, flicking on the light and calling out, "Alec? Izzy? Come out now."

She heard a rustling as Alec squeezed out from behind a bookshelf, pulling a silently crying Izzy out after him. She ran to them, hugging them tightly. "It's okay," she whispered to her children, both of whom were crying now. "It's okay. We're safe now."

It wasn't the first time she'd told them, but it was the first time it had actually been true. 

\-------------------------------------

At the hospital, all of them had physicals done. Maryse herself hadn't sustained much physical damage, but she had some scars from the many times Robert had raped her. Other than that, all she had was a few bruises. Robert had never assaulted Alec or Izzy in the way he had Maryse (thank The Lord), but they were both roughed up a little. 

While Maryse was being interviewed, Luke watched Alec and Izzy and another officer contacted Maryse's family. Maryse hated reliving everything, but she told them everything without hesitation. She just wanted to go home. 

******************************************************

She had been abducted at age seventeen on her way home from work. She had dated Robert in the past, which is why she had no suspicions when he found her and offered her a ride. She remembered him pressing a rag to her face and then waking up in his basement later.

She shuddered just thinking about the first months with Robert. Chained up in his basement, gagged more often than not, and doing things that made her wish she were dead. She had prayed for her torture to end every time, but her pleas fell on empty ears. 

******************************************************

When she was nineteen she had become pregnant with Alec. She tried to hide it from Robert as long as she could, afraid of what he would do to her or the baby, but he had been overjoyed. He thought of them as a happy family, and he couldn't wait to be a father. He had not, however, been any easier on Maryse, during or after the pregnancy. She gave birth to her son in a dirty bathtub in Robert's basement with the radio loud and a gag to muffle her screams. They used old t-shirt scraps as makeshift diapers and they had no warm clothes for the baby, but to her relief he didn't hurt Alec. 

******************************************************

A year later was the first time she tried to escape. Robert had chained her up, but she had lost so much weight since she had Alec that she was able to slip her wrists from the shackles. She crept to the basement door and found it unlocked. She opened it and tried to slide upstairs, but as she reached the top Robert caught her. He was surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered and threw her back down the stairs. He hit her a few more times at the bottom before ripping off her pants. Maryse refuses to go into more detail about that night than that. 

******************************************************

At twenty one, she found out about Izzy. Robert was less excited, but he was still happy. Although he still refused to provide anything for them but a few t-shirts, he seemed to love the kids, and didn't lay a hand on them. Maryse gladly took everything he dished out, desperate to keep him from hurting them. 

******************************************************

Two years after Izzy was born, Maryse tried again. She had spent a lot of her time recently trying to teach her children how to read and write. She didn't want them to be too behind in their learning when they finally got out, so she had asked Robert for some pencils and paper. She used it to write them stories, draw with them, and teach Alec how to add. She told them about the outside world, about the warm sun and cold snow. They seemed fascinated, absorbing as much information as they could. 

"What does the sun feel like?" Izzy had asked her one night. 

Maryse's throat was right, but she managed to fake a smile. "It's warm and bright and happy."

"When can we see it?" Alec inquired. 

"Soon, baby," Maryse told them. "Really soon."

Alec nodded, quietly thinking for a moment. "Good," he finally said. "I want us to be happy."

His words resounded in Maryse's head, making her chest ache. Her four year old son was telling her he wasn't happy. To her credit, she managed to wait until Alec and Izzy were asleep to start crying. Her children had never seen the sun before, and they'd never been outside. As hard as Maryse tried to help them learn, to teach them so they would fit in, they would always be set apart. 

They would never have the social skills of other children, would they? They'd never even met anyone they weren't related to. And being raised in this type of environment? What kind of repercussions would they suffer? Anxiety? Depression? Future alcoholism? All she wanted was for her kids to live a normal life, but deep down she knew it was too late for that. At this rate, they were hardly living at all. They only existed to Maryse and Robert, which Maryse vowed to change. She owed it to them to at least try again to get out. She would not fail her children. 

The next morning, she had managed to strain against her chains enough to get to the window, where she picked up Alec and tried to push him through. Alec was terrified, but he managed to get halfway out the tiny window before Robert came thundering down the stairs.

When he saw what she was doing he yanked her chains back, leaving Alec flailing, half out of the window. Robert kicked her once and rounded on Alec. He pulled him out roughly and shoved him against the wall. He took off the boy's clothes and made him face the wall, sliding off his own belt. Maryse screamed for Robert to stop, to take her instead, but he ignored her. It's been years since that night, but Maryse can still hear her son's screams and sobs, and she can still see the bleeding gashes left all over his body like the image was branded onto her brain. 

******************************************************

Robert rolled off of Maryse, his junk still hanging out. She could breathe easier now that he wasn't on top of her anymore, but she didn't feel any better. It's been happening for seven years now, and it still feels as terrible as the first time. 

Still, it's over now. As Maryse pulls on her t-shirt, Robert walks, naked, to the corner of the room where he'd thrown his clothes. This time it happens to be very near where Alec and Izzy are huddling together with their arms around each other. They've started doing that whenever Robert does anything to Maryse, and it breaks her heart. She knows they're scared. It's always scared them, but she's pretty sure it's gotten worse. She doesn't think they understand what's happening-how could they, really, when they only know Maryse and Robert and she's sure neither of them has said anything about the birds and the bees-but she's positive they know it's wrong. 

Izzy stares at Robert as he leaves, but Alec doesn't look up from the floor. Maryse, desperate to comfort her kids, extends her arms to offer them a hug. Izzy gets up immediately and snuggles into Maryse's side, but Alec doesn't move. 

"Alec? Baby, what's wrong?"

Alec doesn't meet her eyes, instead staring at the floor in front of her. "I don't like it," he says quietly. "Will... Will I have to do that when I'm a grown up?"

Maryse actually sobs, although she doesn't cry. "No, baby." She beckons Alec to her and he finally scoots closer, allowing her to hug him and Izzy tightly. She squeezes them and whispers, "Never." 

******************************************************

Six months later, Robert left for work without locking the basement door. Maryse heard his car pull out of the driveway, and jumped into action. "Alec, sweetie, can you open the door?" 

She heard rustling in the dark. Suddenly, the door was slowly opened. She saw Izzy's outline in the light coming from the top of the staircase. "Alec's asleep," Izzy whispered. 

Maryse hesitated, but Izzy was three now, which meant she could probably help. "Okay, Izzy. I need you to go open the door at the top of the stairs and run outside. Yell for help."

Izzy nodded and dashed up the stairs, but Maryse frowned when she heard the door open much sooner than Izzy should have gotten there. 

To her horror, Robert shoved Izzy down the stairs. The light came on just in time for Maryse to watch her daughter land on her wrist funny. Izzy's scream and the crack her arm made were loud enough to wake Alec, who jolted up and immediately shrunk back into the corner. 

"I forgot my wallet," Robert said calmly, entering the room. "So I came home to get it when I found my daughter trying to escape. Why is that, Maryse?"

Maryse shook her head. "Robert, please. Do whatever you want to me, but-"

"That's the thing, Maryse," Robert interrupted. "I can do whatever I want to you, but you never learn. What will it take for you to obey? Maybe if I hurt them, you'll understand. You need to obey me."

Maryse heard Robert's hand hit Izzy's face before she realized he moved. Izzy staggered back and fell with a loud whimper that shattered her heart. She tried to beg again, asking Robert to take her instead, but another voice interrupted her. 

"Take me!" Robert turned to Alec in surprise. Alec was standing now, his expression fierce. "Don't hurt Izzy. Take me instead."

Maryse felt her chest swell with both pride in her son and fear for him. Robert's surprised expression quickly turned calculating until, eventually, he nodded. "Okay, Alexander, come with me." Alec bravely followed Robert upstairs, leaving Maryse to tend to Izzy as they waited for him to come back. Izzy's wrist was definitely broken, but she had managed to stop crying. Maryse held her, rocking her gently until a quiet yet blood curdling scream made her freeze. 

The scream was so muffled it was hard to hear, but she would recognize that voice anywhere. Maryse, powerless and chained up, cried and prayed that he would stop hurting her baby. It only lasted for two or three minutes, but it felt like years to Maryse. 

Finally, the door to the basement was opened and Alec's small body was shoved through the door. He was not wearing a shirt, and he was still sobbing. "I will not be disobeyed again, Maryse," Robert said, closing the door. In the receding light, she barely managed to catch what Robert had done. Using a hot poker, he had seared one word onto Alec's back: OBEY. 

******************************************************

After that night, Robert had started keeping the kids locked up too. Maryse had thought that was it. Her chance at escaping had disappeared as her, Alec, and Izzy were all immobilized. She had sworn to herself that she would get them out of this house, but now she didn't think they would ever escape. They were doomed to rot down here in the dark, nothing more than Robert's playthings.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm considering doing a part two to this where Alec and Magnus are dating and Alec struggles with a physical relationship because of the events of this fic but I'm not sure. Let me know what you guys think about this fic or doing a second part in the comments! Thanks for reading and remember kudos make a writer's day! :)


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